This invention relates generally to outside spare tire carriers and more specifically to a lock device for an outside spare tire carrier.
It is known in the art to provide a spare tire carrier on the outside of a vehicle, especially a sport utility vehicle. Often, spare tire carriers are mounted on a vehicle's rear so that the tire cannot interfere with the normal vehicle functions. But this causes problems if the vehicle is equipped with a drop tailgate assembly. In this situation, a rear mounted spare tire carrier can interfere with the operation of the drop tailgate.
To overcome this difficulty, spare tire carriers are sometimes mounted on a pivotable frame. Such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,834 issued to Raywood C. Weiler on Apr. 4, 1989. This patent discloses a bumper mounted spare tire carrier which is mounted on a rear bumper by a first mounting bracket and mounted to a drop tailgate by a second mounting bracket. An arm mounted to the first mounting bracket is pivotable between a closed position next to the drop tailgate and an open position out of the way of the drop tailgate. As a result, the drop tailgate may be opened or closed without interference from the spare tire carrier. A latching mechanism selectively latches the arm to the second mounting bracket on the drop tailgate to secure the spare tire carrier during operation of the vehicle.
When operating a sport utility vehicle equipped with such a spare tire carrier it may sometimes be desirable to transport articles for a short distance, such as bags of refuse from garage to roadside, while leaving the drop tailgate in the open position. Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a lock device which serves to secure the spare tire carrier to the tailgate when the latter is in the lowered position so it will not be necessary to load the articles, close the tailgate and spare tire carrier, move the vehicle a short distance, and swing the carrier outwardly to open the tailgate again.